Implementation of a Patient Blood Management Program in Gastric Cancer Surgery

Retrospective evaluation on a prospective cohort of patients undergoing curative gastric cancer resection to evaluate the impact of a patient blood management (PBM) program on transfusion rate and clinical outcomes. The study aims to compare transfusion practices and clinical outcomes of patients undergoing elective gastric cancer resection before and after implementing a PBM program, which included strategies to detect and treat preoperative anemia and restrictive transfusion practice (2014-2018). Primary outcome is transfusion rate (TR). Secondary outcomes are transfusion index (TI), postoperative complications, length of stay, 30-day readmissions, and 90-day mortality. Adherence to protocol is also analyzed. Differences of variables before and after PBM program implementation are evaluated with mean comparing analysis adjusted by confounding factors.